The Wollin was a small three-masted schooner built in Milwaukee in 1854 to carry cargo. It was rebuilt and remeasured several times throughout its service. In May of 1860, the Wollin was owned by John M. Waring of Holland, Michigan; it was at this time one of the masts was removed. In July 1869, it was dismasted by lightning in Holland.

Five years later, in July 1874, the Wollin collided with the propeller F. Shriver in Holland. The loss of property was listed as $200. Then, in September, the Wollin's outfit was damaged at Chicago, with a loss of $100. Ownership was transferred to J.B. Borgeman (also spelled Burgham, Burgman, Bergman) in 1876. A November 8, 1888 edition of the then Cleveland, Ohio newspaper The Marine Record reported that the Wollin struck a sandbar: "Pumps had to be set to work to keep her from waterlogging, and the life saving crew finally managed to get a jacket around her." The ship was successfully pumped and towed upriver.

In 1896, the year before its wreckage, the Wollin was sold under auction at Milwaukee for $1,140.
On the night of April 29, 1897, the Wollin was bound from Frankfort, Michigan to Milwaukee, Wisconsin; it was laden with slabs and potatoes. The schooner encountered a strong northeast gale which blew away its canvas and yawl, rendering the crew of the Wollin helpless six miles offshore. The Wollin went aground near Sheboygan's North Point at 3am that morning. An engineer of the city pumping station noticed the casualty. A rescue crew was dispatched and arrived at the scene around 5:30am, rescuing all five men off of the vessel: Captain Webb, Peter Jacobson, James Vanorvan, William Oakley, and one unnamed crewmember.

The vessel was listed as a complete loss. It valued at $1,000 and the cargo at $300; neither were insured. The cargo was sold off to Sheboygan parties after the vessel was abandoned. On May 2, it was reported in Sheboygan that the Wollin was slowly breaking up off of North Point. In August, only the bow was left.
Although the wreckage of the Wollin is reported in historical accounts, the current location and condition of the wreckage have not been identified by archaeological investigation. A wreck site offshore of Sheboygan's North Point, dubbed "The Potato Ship," was identified by one account to be the Wollin. Conflicting accounts report this to be the scow-schooner Ahnapee, however.